OFT crackdown on children’s app game extras

Phone and internet games with paid-for extras are under investigation by the OFT.

App-based children’s games for web and phone are being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to find out if they are unfairly pressurising children to pay for additional content.

These so-called ‘free’ games are accused of luring children in and then forcing them to pay money for extras through upgrades or virtual currency such as coins, gems or fruit.

The OFT is contacting parents and consumer groups to find out if the companies selling these programmes are using commercially aggressive practices.

Expensive add-ons

In the past year there have been several cases of children racking up huge bills through paid-for extras on free game apps, such as the 13-year old Cameron Crossan from Somerset, who landed his father with a bill for £3,700 from Apple.

Danny Kitchen, a five-year old from Bristol, also ran up a bill of £1,700 from web games he played on his parents’ iPad.

Although Apple wiped both of these fees, they highlight the fact that situations like this are becoming much more common. In January the regulator PhonePayPlus said it had seen a 300% rise in the number of complaints about these kind of games.

These free games with paid-for add-ons dominate the gaming market and made up 80 of the 100 top-grossing Android apps on the 9th April this year.

Children are also using the internet more. 82% of eight- to 11-year-olds are online, according to Ofcom, while there was a 20% rise in the number of five-year-olds who own a smartphone this year.

OFT investigation

The OFT will try to work out if these games are 'strongly' encouraging children to make a purchase or forcing them to persuade their parents to do so, because under the Consumer Protection (from Unfair Trading) Regulations 2008 this is illegal.

It will also look into the transparency of these games to see if the full cost is made clear when they’re first downloaded.

Games developers and hosting services will be contacted, along with consumer and parenting groups and the results will be published in October.

Cavendish Elithorn, OFT Senior Director for Goods and Consumer, explained that the OFT is not seeking to ban in-game purchases, but to ensure the games industry is complying with the relevant regulations so that children are protected.

How to avoid a massive bill for your child’s online gaming

Stopping your child playing these kind of games and encouraging them to do something else – be it a sport, hobby or craft – is the best way to avoid them running up massive bills. But if that’s not an option then try to restrict the amount of time they’re spending playing online games and supervise them so you know exactly what they’re looking at and for how long.

Making sure parental controls are on, giving you the power to restrict certain sites. Unlinking your own bank account from your web account will put a halt to surprise bills. Instead pay for these games through online vouchers, which you can buy on sites such as iTunes.

By regularly changing your password you’ll also be able to limit the kind of access your kids have to your accounts.

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